


Twisted Promises

by RunningRiver05



Series: Corrupted!Matpat AU [2]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Corruption, Did you Mean: Hurt/Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, From mid season 3 onwards, Gun Violence, Hearing Voices, Hurt/Comfort, I say graphic depictions of violence but it's not really that graphic, Im sorry no, Mind Manipulation, Nightmares, Not Canon Compliant, Post Everlock, Post-Season/Series 03, Ro and Saf are gonna have a bad time, You need to read the first one for this one to make sense, if Matt was mildly on Nicholas' side last time because he just wanted to help, mild gun violence, oh boy, oh man i dont know how to archive warn this, people bleed, rip the reader, rip this is long, then this is full blown corruption, this is the longest piece ive written in a long time, to be entirely honest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24002335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunningRiver05/pseuds/RunningRiver05
Summary: It's been a few months since Everlock, and Matt's not been coping well.To what extent, however, is what Safiya and Rosanna don't know yet.
Relationships: Matthew Patrick/Stephanie Patrick, Nicholas | The Carnival Master (Escape the Night) & The Detective | Matthew Patrick, The Big Game Hunter | Oli White/The Journalist | Eva Gutowski, The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Investigative Reporter | Safiya Nygaard, The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, The Investigative Reporter | Safiya Nygaard & The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, The Investigative Reporter | Safiya Nygaard/The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, if you squint, oh wow there be a lot of implied relationships
Series: Corrupted!Matpat AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730905
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Twisted Promises

Matthew didn't know what was going on. 

At least, until he did know. 

The first sign that this was bad, was the sudden bruising that had sprung up on his arms and torso and neck out of nowhere. The bruising that looked oddly familiar to him, considering what had happened in the wretched town of Everlock three months ago. He'd tried to hide it, and as far as Matt was aware, he was doing okay at hiding those bruises. 

Safiya's concealer worked like a charm, and Matt thought he was quite good at applying it considering he'd learnt through YouTube tutorials from the likes of James Charles and Jeffree Star. Safiya and Rosanna didn't seem to have noticed anything at least, which was always good considering he still met up with them regularly. He'd seen it with Eva and Oli, the survivors of Joey's first event, and in Tyler and Andrea; You tend to rely on your survival partner(s) to deal with trauma. 

Admittedly, Matt didn't think he and Safiya and Rosanna had as much trauma as the others. Safiya and Rosanna were under Nocholas' protection from Matt's revival onwards, and Matt was automatically protected after he'd made that awful deal. 

The deal he still didn't regret, considering the circumstances. He didn't want Rosanna and Safiya to die, after all, and he'd had to make it home safely; he had a kid now for Christ's sake!

So yeah, Matt kinda had to take the deal when Nicholas offered it to him. 

The second sign that this was bad had to be the dream Matt had had the night previous.

In tha dream, he'd seen himself in his Detective outfit from that night, a while ago. He'd been walking through Everlock, and he could hear them all. Saf and Ro and Nikita and Manny, JC, Teala, Roi, everyone who he'd been trapped in that godawful town with, were _screaming_ in pain, and not even covering his ears with his hands could block out the screaming. 

Then all the sound stopped, and Matt could relax for a moment, the peace being broken soon after. Nicholas' voice echoed through Matt's ears, stronger than it ever had in previous nightmares. Stronger than it had been compared to when Matt was actually in Everlock, that awful night. The voice was echoey, and Matt flinched slightly when he heard the harsh, raspy voice of the Carnival Master in his ears. 

"You didn't do as you promised, _Matthew_." Matt shivered when he felt a chill run down his spine, and he wanted to curl in on himself. He could feel regret begin to blossom in his chest, and his bruises (that he now recognised as the bruises he'd had when he was dead, after being beaten by the Strongman) ached. Stumbling backwards, Matt could feel the side of Fat Man Slim's against his back, and he winced, sliding down to the ground. 

Nicholas' voice didn't leave Matt. 

"You made me a promise, and you told me you'd help be out of my cage. You told me that you'd do as I instructed, if I kept your little _Rosanna _and your little _Safiya _alive. Now you're gonna pay with their lives." Matt covered his ears with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't want this. He wanted the brusing to leave him, and he wanted Rosanna and Safiya with him, to calm him down.____

____Since he'd escaped Everlock, those two were the only ones who'd be able to calm down Matt when something triggered the trauma of being beaten to death. Similarly, he and Saf were the only ones able to calm Rosanna's trauma, Ro and Matt the only ones who could truely calm down Safiya. Oli and Eva and Tyler and Andrea tried their best, but the Everlock survivors only saw their fellow survivors once or twice a month, and they weren't in Everlock. They didn't know what Matt, Saf and Ro had been through. Hell, they didn't know that Matt had allied himself temporarily with the evil after dying and being ressurected!_ _ _ _

____"Now, listen carefully Matthew."_ _ _ _

____Nicholas' voice jolted Matt from his thoughts about his fellow survivors, and he froze up again._ _ _ _

____"You're going to get yourself a weapon, and you're going to kill Joey for me. I may not be free, but I'm still going to get one of the things I want, and you're my weapon. Pick your poison, Matthew. You'll have blood on your hands."_ _ _ _

____It would have been an understatement to say that Matt was mildly displeased with learning this piece of information. In fact, Matt was downright horrified at learning what Nicholas wanted Matt to do. He felt sick, the taste of bile at the back of his throat. Matt was supposed to murder Joey?_ _ _ _

____Yeah, Matt knew he'd been sentancing Joey to death when he originally made his deal, but those were different circulstances. Matt's job had been to free Nicholas and let the Carnival Master do the majority of the job, not much else. Matt's hand would have been (mostly) clean! This on the other hand, was supposed to turn Matt into a murderer. The former detective grit his teeth together and forced himself to stand up, stumbling forwards._ _ _ _

____"What if I say no?" He boldly said, challenging the Carnival Master. He didn't want to do this, and he didn't want to let some voice in his head turn him into a murderer._ _ _ _

The Carnival Master just laughed. 

"If you say no, Matthew, then I'll take the lives of your little survivor friends for my own. Every single one of them will be mine, and you'll regret not listening to me." Nicholas said, and Matt flinched. 

Oli, Eva, Saf, Ro, Tyler, Andrea...

If he didn't kill Joey, all of them would die, and Matt would be left to explain why he was the only one left. 

"Now, go off. Go do as you're told, Matthew. You know the consequences if you don't. 

Rosanna had to admit, she was a bit worried about Matt. He didn't look so good, and he was picking at his food, despite him usually loving Ro's cooking. Meeting Safiya's eyes, Ro shrugged slightly when the other girl gave her a confused look, guesturing to Matt. She didn't know what was wrong, but it couldn't be good. 

The group of Everlock survivors were meeting up with the previous victims of Joey's gatherings, and Joey himself was there for the first time. He'd explained himself to Eva and Oli and Tyler and Andrea, and Ro wasn't sure if they forgave him or not, but none of them had made any hostile comments or asked Ro to make him leave her house. She wasn't sure if they were just being polite while Saf, Matt and she were around however. 

"I'll be back in a moment. I need to use the restroom." Safiya broke the silence, standing up. She looked at Rosanna, and Ro nodded her head. 

"Do you want me to show you where it is?" She asked, catching onto what Saf wanted her to do. Ro's friend then nodded, and Rosanna stood up. She offered the other survivors a guilty smile, before trotting off, leadign Safiya into the hallway. 

"I'm sure you don't really need the bathroom. What's up, Saf?" Rosanna said when they reached the middle of the hallway. Rosanna could see Safiya's shoulders slump down slightly, and she felt a twinge of guilt. 

"You're right, I don't. I'm worried about Matt though. He's acting off, he's quieter and keeps looking at Joey nervously, and he's doing am awful job at hiding something with concealer. That shade doesn't match his skin tone in the slightest, and I think everyone's realised he's trying to cover something up." Saf said. Rosanna nodded, taking that all into account. 

She had to admit, she _had_ seen hints of bruises poking out from underneath the slightly patchy concealer Matt had been applying to his neck, and she was equally as, if not more worried as Safiya was. Matt was her platonic soulmate! Her unofficial brother! Of course she was worried about him and his acting off. 

"What do you think we should do? It's not like we could confront him while everyone else is around. Eva and the others don't know about his thing with the Carnival Master yet, or the challenge he lost to Manny." Ro said, and Safiya gasped. Ro turned around to see Tyler looking between them, his eyes wide, sparkling with curiosity. 

"No no, forget that I'm here. Keep on talking. Matt had a thing with this 'Carnival Master'?" Tyler said, continuing to look between Safiya and Rosanna.

Ro's heart dropped to her stomach. This wasn't right... Tyler shouldn't know about that! It was too soon, and this was Matt's secret to tell, not Ro and Saf's secret. Tyler look curious however, and he would have to find out eventually...

Rosanna made up her mind, and waved her hand at Saf and Tyler, telling them to follow her. "I'll explain everything. Trust me, Saf." She said, before leading Tyler and Safiya to the guest room. She closed the door behind them, and sighed, sinking down onto the bed. 

"We shouldn't be doing this, 'cause it's Matt's thing to tell, but, well..." Rosanna trailed off, and Safiya thankfully took over for Ro. 

"When we were in Everlock, Matt lost a challenge against Manny. He was beaten to death by the Strongman. We had a box that needed two coins, and we needed to find those coins to get us an advantage. Afer Colleen's death, we found the second coin and opened up the box. Inside the box was a harp that would let us bring one friend back from the dead." Safiya started, summarising everything.

"We chose Matt, and he was brought back. The next thing we all knew, we were doing puzzles in a funhouse. While we did those puzzles, Willie, the funhouse's keeper came and captured four of the six of us. Matt and Nikita evaded capture, and they had to vote in two of us to partake in the challenge. They close Ro and I, and we were released from the funhouse. I won the challenge, and we both went to the end. There was the thing we needed, and a note that told us we both got to live at the cost of the person who voted in the winner would die. We returned to find that Nikita was dead, having taken a fishhook to the gut." She continued. 

Looking at Tyler, Rosanna could see the shock on his face, and she shuddered slightly, Safiya's retelling bringing horrible memories to her head. She hated being reminded of their time in Everlock. She hated it so damn much!

"We then hade to face off against witches. if you got cursed, you die. I didn't get cursed, and didn't watch the challenge. Ro told me that during the challenge, they had to do an obstical course of sorts, and the last one through would die. The first step of the challenge was drinking witches potions. Matt, Joey and Ro got through their fine, though we suspect Manny's were different. he complained of a burning throat, according to Ro and he didn't make it past the first step. He was killed by the witches." Rosanna winced when she heard Safiya tell of Manny's death. She'd felt so bad about it, and she hated that it had seemingly been rigged to make Manny die. he'd had his fate sealed, as had Nikita, the moment that Matt signed his contract. 

"The witches gave Matt a note about the final challenge and one of the things we needed to cleanse that particular artifact. He dropped the note and I called him out after I read it. He revealed that he'd set it up. He'd rigged the two previous challenges by making a deal with the evil, the Carnival Master. He'd help release the Carnival Master and help kill Joey, in return for my safety and Ro's safety. He was voted into the final challenge with Ro, and killed Lucy over himself of Ro, to cleanse the artifact. We stopped him from releasing the Carnival Master and we got out, but I have a feeling that us stopping Matt from freeing the Carnival master is taking a toll on Matt." Safiya explained, making Tyler gasp. 

"He did't," Tyler trailed off, looking between Rosanna and Safiya with wide eyes. 

Unfortunately, neither of the girls could answer. After all, they'd just heard screams coming from the dining area. 

"Matt, put the gun down." 

Oli's eyes were wide as he looked at Matt, one hand raised in the air, the other curled around Eva's shoulders in a weak act to protect her. Andrea was standing behind the couple, clutching onto the wall in fear. Joey was off to Oli's right, tensed up. Joey was the one to speak, the man's eyes trained on Matt and the gun, held in shaking hands. Oli could see the fear in Eva's eyes as she looked up at him, and Oli knew she was terrified. She'd watched Tim shoot himself for goodness sakes; of course she'd be upset that she was once again, being threatened with a gun!

Andrea also looked like she wasn't coping too well with the gun being pointed at their little group too. Oli faintly wondered why, before Matt's voice spoke up, breaking the tense silence, thick in the air. 

"I, I can't. I have too, it's, it's for the good of everyone..." Matt squeezed his eyes shut, and Oli felt a jolt of terror in his chest. He wrapped both arms around Eva and held her tight to him, watching. He was scared to death and he hated it, but he needed to protect Eva and the rest of his friends. 

"Is this about the Carnival Master, Matt?" Oli could hear Joey asked. Oli could see Matt's grip on the gun tighten, and Oli knew that Joey had struck a sore point. 

"His name is Nicholas, Joey!" Matt snapped, and Oli felt a pit sink into his stomach. Matt had denied nothing, and based on what Oli had heard, this Carnival Master guy had been the big evil of their adventure with Joey. Was Matt Everlock's Arthur? 

"Matt, you know what happened last time you listened to him!" Joey said, taking a few steps forwards. Oli wiggled forwards slighting, using an arm to push Joey back towards the group. It looked like Matt had his gun trained on Joey, which couldn't be good. 

"I, he, he promised me that they would be safe if I made him a promise, Joey. I couldn't not take that chance." Matt said. Oli could see the desperation in Matt's eyes, and he felt a twinge of pity before pure terror took over. They may be having a conversation, and Joey may be getting to Matt, but that didn't change anything. Matt still had a gun trained on their group, Safiya, Rosanna and Tyler were still gone, and things didn't look good. 

One half of that looked like it was being solved soon though. Tyler and the other two Eerlock survivors burst out of the hallway. He could see Rosanna cover her mouth in shock. Tyler gasped, and Safiya made a move to position herself in front of the other two. Saf was staring down Matt, who had backed up and was now switching between aiming his gun at Oli's group and Safiya's group. 

"Matt, drop the gun." Saf's voice was calm and steady, surprisingly, and she seemed to knock the tiniest bit of sense into Matt. He stared at her, tears in his eyes. His hands were shakier than normal, and he looked like he were ready to break. 

"Matt?" 

Tossing the gun to the ground, Matt winced, falling to his hands and knees. Oli felt more than a little confused, and he was sure Eva and Andrea and Tyler felt the same way. 

Well, maybe not Tyler. He and Rosanna were exchanging a knowling look, Safiya already by Matt's side, holding the sobbing man in her arms. Some of the tension left Oli's body, and his hold on Eva relaxed slightly. Safiya seemed to have the situation under control, right? Oli and his friends shouldn't have anything to worry about now, right?

Tyler could only really hang back as Rosanna left his side, going over to Matt. He felt a lot of mixed emotions right now, primarily concerning Matt. 

Now Tyler wasn't usually one for curse words, he couldn't help but wonder one thing; what the fuck made Matt think that a deal with the evil was ever going to be a good idea?! Tyler may not be the most observant, but even he could see that if one of his group had made a deal with the Sorceress, that wouldn't have gone well with his group. Similarly, he suspected that if one of the guests to the Houseparty Oli and Eva had attended were to make a deal with the evil of the house (and its staff, Tyler supposed) that wouldn't have ended well either. 

What on earth made Matt think that making any sort of deal would be a good thing? 

He could understand where Matt was coming from, based on what he'd heard, but couldn't there have been a better way to ensure Saf and Ro's safety? Couldn't Matt have just, you know, done something different?

Tyler didn't know what that different thing could have been, but he also wasn't there and didn't know any details. Hell, Safiya's brief explanation to him earlier was the most any of the survivors from the first two events had gotten out of the group of three, which was saying something! 

Since Tyler no longer had an idea to what he should (or could) do, he just lingered there in the hallway enterence, looking around. Joey was awkwardly standing there, watching Matt and his girls, while Eva and Oli comforted eachother. 

Listening in to Matt's conversation with Saf and Ro, Tyler managed to pick up a few things through. Namely that the Carnival Master guy Saf and Ro had spoken about had been speaking to Matt in his dreams and threatening to kill Saf and Ro and Tyler and Andrea and Oli and Eva if Matt didn't kill Joey. 

That was pleasant to hear about. 

That also answered the unasked question of 'why are we being threatened with a gun'.

Tyler decided he didn't want to listen to any more of the conversation, so he walked over to comfort Andrea. Being held at gunpoint oddly reminded him of when Gabbie protected the group while Joey held them at gunpoint under the Helm's control, and that wasn't a pleasant memory. Tyler could remember being simltaniously terrified that Joey was about to shoot them, and thankful that Gabbie was willing to take a bullet for the group. 

Look where that got her. 

Great. Now Tyler's made himself feel sad and feel guilty that she didn't get out. Not that Tyler would give up his survival partnership with Andrea for the world! He just wished that maybe she didn't have do die. 

He wished none of them had to die to be quite honest, but Joey started a long train of homocides that Tyler didn't think could really stop. 

Not now, after three lots of time travel murder. 

To be completely honest, one of the only reasons Tyler was okay with Joey hanging around the group of survivors was because if Joey was here with them, then they could make sure he didn't get into any trouble and organise a third event in the past to kill more people. They could also make sure the weird Society against Evil group didn't contact him and ask him to do something that might lead to another time travel murder event. 

Or, as the media called it, another "Mass Kidnapping". Tyler found it strange how the general media interpreted the situation. All the survivors had decided that they wouldn't share any information to the media about their situation. Hell, even to their loved ones! Most people wouldnt't believe them for starters, and would probably send them to a mental hospital or psych ward or something. 

Tyler wasn't too find of that idea. 

While going on thought tangents, Tyler completely missed what was happening around him. He only realised something was actually happenng when he heard two rapid gunshots. There was a blinding pain in the back of his right shoulder, and when he turned around to see what had happened, he could see Rosanna, gun in hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. Safiya was holding onto her, both pressed against the wall. Oli and Eva and Andrea stood to one side, horrified and shocked looks on their faces, while Matt was on the floor. His eyes had gone dark; almost black, and he had a sick and twisted smile on his face. 

Tyler quickly realised where the other bullet had ended up. 

The front of Matt's shirt was now stained with a crimson red fluid, which was slowly blossoming outwards, staining his shirt. Stumbling back, Tylder let out a gasp, his back hitting against the wall. Tyler winced as his wound was knocked into the wall, sliding down to the floor. Pulling his hand away, he focusedon the damp red that now covered his hand. 

The same red on Matt.

When she saw Tyler fall to the ground, leaving a red smear on the cream wall behind him, Eva's 'mom friend' instincts kicked in and she sprung into action. She pulled away from Oli's hold and fetched her phone, dialling 911. They needed to get an ambulance over here for Tyler (and possibly Matt, if it wasn't too late. Not that Eva thought Matt deserved it at this point, but she had a feeling about the situation having more to it than she thought). Tyler had been shot and was _bleeding_ , and needed medical treatment for that wound. 

Eva wasn't about to let him (or Matt, she supposed) die from Rosanna's gunshots. 

_"911 what is your emergency?"_ Eva heard the woman say over the phone, somewhat starting to relax when she realised her call had gone through. 

"Hello, this is Eva Gutowski and I'm calling from Rosanna Pansino's house. There's, there's been an accident. Two people have been shot. Please send an ambulence!" Eva explained quickly. She gave Rosanna's adress when she was prompted too, hanging up the moment the kind dispatcher told her an abulence was on the way.

Looking back, Eva would think herself cruel for not treating the dispatcher with the respect she deserved, but Eva was also in a rush to keep two of her friends alive. You've gotta give her a break. 

Focusing once more on the situation, Eva could see all traces of whatever the dark thing on Matt's face was now gone, Matt looking around confused. he was holding his wound, though Eva had a bad feeling that Matt might be beyond saving. 

The gun was, once again, on the ground, untouched by anyone. Rosanna, who'd wealded the weaopon and shot Matt and Tyler was being comforted by Safiya, the shorter girl sobbing in Safiya's arms. Oli was by Tyler's side, one of Rosanna's kitchen towels being used to cover Tyler's wound. The fabric was stained in Tyler's blood and Eva couldn't help but flinch, reminded of poor Tim. 

Tim, who died so she could survive. 

Andrea, similarly to Tyler earlier, was just lingering back. Eva had a feeling Andrea didn't know what she was doing, and honestly? Had any person except for Tyler (well, maybe Oli. Or Rosanna. Or Safiya, now Eva thought about it) been shot in the shoulder, Eva probably wouldn't haa been as eager to jump to help them and call for an ambulence as she had been earlier.

From when the ambulance came, everything was a blur for Safiya. 

She knew that she was comforting everyone, teaming up with Eva to make sure everyone was okay. She knew she's given a statement when the police arrived, and she knew she'd held Rosanna close to her when Ro gave the police her own statement. 

She knew she'd held Stephanie and baby Ollie close to her when they pulled up, after Steph recieved news of her husband being in hospital. 

Hell, she knew that she and Eva had kept Steph from attacking Ro when Steph had learned of Ro's involvement in Matt's being hospitalised!

She knew no details however. Everything was really a blur of sound and voices and light, similar to the challenge she'd fought against Ro in the funhouse. That was all a blur of light and sound. 

Safiya knew almost nothing about what had happened in the big mess of blurry colours and distorted sounds, and she wouldn't know anything more until Matt and Tyler would be in stable conditions.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for a couple weeks, and I'm semi proud of this! I was trying a few new things with this, and I'm still learning to write a lot of characters, but I think I got most of them right. Apologies for any ooc moments y'all might've picked up on. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope y'all liked the sequel to my sleep deprived au fic from last year uwu


End file.
